Coast, 2022.
Directed by Jessica Hester and Derek Schweickart.
Starring Fatima Ptacek, Cristela Alonzo, Kane Ritchotte, Ciara Bravo, Mia Rose Frampton, Andres Velez, Shanda Renee, Mia Xitlali, Victoria del Rosal, Paul McCarthy-Boyington, Eduardo Roman, Kaylee Kamiya, and Melissa Leo.
SYNOPSIS:
16-year-old Abby’s life changes when a traveling rock band gets stuck in her small town.
Coast is the kind of film that forces its themes with convenient writing, such as 16-year-old lost rebel Abby (Fatima Ptacek, once the voice of Dora the Explorer, now taking on edgier roles) and her classmates/friends (all of which are one-dimensional and either reinforce her bad behavior or grow tired of her increasing selfishness upon getting serious with a teenage runaway musician in town) assigned schoolwork looking into their hometown history.
Abby’s mom Debora (Cristela Alonzo), is well-meaning and loving but also not the most responsible parent. Working the night shift as a nurse, she frequently allows Abby’s friends to stay over under the impression that they have sleepovers when they are really out all night, either causing trouble or making questionable youthful choices (the opening scene sees her friends shoving a piercing in her nose). Considering Debora gave birth to Abby when she was 16, it does make sense that mom is sometimes more than anything (sometimes not caring if Abby takes a hit from her cigarette).
That dynamic is currently fractured, as Abby’s mom is now going through a divorce following her dad having an affair and getting another woman he claims he loves pregnant. She doesn’t want to see her dad again, she’s upset her mother won’t talk to him, but most of all, she fears being trapped in this coastal town like everyone else in her family. There’s also a friend of the group, Cassie (Ciara Bravo with disappointingly limited screen time), already a mom that doesn’t get to hang out anymore. Depressingly, she plans to work a dead-end job. And whenever one of her friends expresses the slightest interest in pursuing a life inside the town, Abby loses more of her cool until reaching a breaking point.
The answer seems to lie in Dave (Kane Ritchotte), charming to Abby but suspicious to us. He’s in a band and quickly makes her feel special, asking if she would like to run away with her as he ran away from his father. As the two get closer, the script from Cindy Kitagawa pushes hard to make Abby unlikable for no apparent reason. The occasional difference in life desires transitions into flat-out horrible, horrible friend behavior that never quite registers with who we know she is as a character. Admittedly, there are some honest and tender moments between Abby and Dave and a sense that Coast could have found its groove if it centered on their dynamic.
Instead, the directing team of Jessica Hester and Derek Schweickart shoves in several other subplots with a total lack of editing grace to keep each of them consistently moving. One of them sees Debora befriending a dying patient played by Melissa Leo, learning a thing or two about the challenges of parenting from one another, but it is primarily a side story that could be cut from the film without losing much of anything. The same goes for the antics between Abby and each of her friends, the corniness of the hometown research assignment, and the third act filled with exaggerated drama. At that point, Coast is toast, but it does show that Fatima Ptacek can handle more complex work and would shine with a better script and direction.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
